So, we didn’t manage to go ahead with the June Science Café as we had hoped however we have regrouped and have moved ahead with plans for both the September 17th Science Café and the November Science Festival week.

Both will necessarily be different this year, but we want Otley Science Festival 2020 to happen and look forward to returning to a more familiar form in 2021.

The September Science Café is now in hand, as an on-line only event, but also a test of our capabilities to deliver a blended event in November. We have two great speakers for you to enjoy. Check out the details on the Science Café page.

For the Festival week we are building our plans and hope to soon announce as full a week of activities as we can.

Keep watching this space!

Our first event directly impacted by the coronavirus is our June 18th Science Café. The Courthouse is closed and this event will not be going ahead in its traditional format. We are however investigating whether we can go a head with an on-line version.

This is still in consideration at the moment. We will update here and on the Science Café page when we know more.

Planning of the November Science Festival week is still going ahead although there are, of course, unknowns about exactly what we will be able to do. If we can do it there will be a Festival, although it is likely to have some difference from previous years.

Stay safe and looking forward to meeting you again as soon as possible.

… is on Thursday 12th March at 7.30pm

We will be hearing about “Science with a telescope ten miles across”, “Artificial neural networks: what, why and how?” and “Not just dinosaurs: the prehistoric British Isles”

Find out all the details on the Science Café page

Below is a small composite of a few moments from the 2019 Science Festival.

We had another really successful year with many sell out events and Saturday’s Science Fair packing out Otley Courthouse and spreading to other locations in Otley with our new “Fringe” events. Thanks to everyone who came to support us, all those who worked to enable the Festival to take place and, of course, our wonderful range of presenters.

Thanks also to the Wharfedale Observer for their coverage which you can read on these links:

‘Storming start’ for Otley Science Festival

Hundreds turn out for ‘amazing’ Otley Science Fair

But now planning for Otley Science Festival 2020 gets under way. Mark the dates:

• Festival week will be November 9th – 14th
• Plus, of course Science Cafés on March 12th, June 18th and September 17th

See you there!

And more we couldn’t fit on the poster:

• Wednesday 13th November the Festival Science Café
• Thursday 14th November Otley Film Society presents: APOLLO 11
• Friday 15th November the multiply fulfilling Science Lunch: Black Holes, Quasars and the violent fate of the Milky Way
• Friday 15th November An Evening with Paul Hardaker, Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics

Get the details for everything on the Festival 2019 page and not forgetting the Science Fair on Saturday 16th, which also has its own page here

Everything is in place and tickets are selling well for the 2019 Science Festival: indeed some events are already sold out.

Our week of events cover from deep ocean to deep space, physics to food and include a café, a lunch and Saturday’s all day free fair, this year with added “fringe” events. Check out the details on the Festival 2019 page.

Meanwhile, here’s a quick look back at the September Science Café.

Clockwise from top left:

• Getting down to questions
• Dr Nicolas Barry & Dr William Martin, School of Chemistry & Biosciences, University of Bradford on Molecular music: the sound of chemistry
• Dr Kevin Houston, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds presenting Caricatures and Dancing Homers: The maths of shape
• Dr J. Bernadette Moore, School of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Leeds addressing Sugar, fat, alcohol… what’s worse for the liver?

With the release of the Otley Courthouse autumn programme tickets are on sale for this year’s Science Festival.

Details for the Science Festival programme are included in the Courthouse programme booklet which you can pick up in the Courthouse and in other locations in the area. The list of events is on our web site here, along with the links to more details and Ticketsource for buying the tickets. We will be adding fuller details for all the events here shortly.

And if you can’t wait, our next Science Café is on Thursday September 26th. Again, details will follow shortly.

Preparations for the 2019 Science Festival Week are well under way and as a starter we are now able to publish the programme of daytime events for schools.

These sessions, designed for primary schools (home educators also welcome), run during the daytime on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the Science Festival week (November 12th, 13th, 14th).

This year we are delighted to have two people known from the BBC and beyond, Maddie Moate and Greg Foot, plus Live Science Presenter extraordinaire Jon Wood.

You can find all the details on our Schools page.